The present study is designed to test a proposed model of learned helplessness developed by the principal investigator. This model specifies the conditions under which exposure to objective noncontingency will lead to performance deficits (learned helplessness) or enhanced performance (facilitation). These conditions are defined by a number of variables that have been found to influence the subjective experience of exposure to noncontingent reinforcement. In the proposed study, three of these variables will be examined: 1) subjects' generalized expentancy for success in intellectual-academic achievement situations; 2) the amount of exposure to noncontingent feedback on discrimination problems; and 3) the similarity of the "helplessness training" task and the task on which performance effects will be assessed. Reactions to noncontingent reward will be evaluated by subjects' problem-solving performance following exposure to noncontingency, by the deterioration in the level of their hypothesis-testing sophistication level during exposure to noncontingency, and by their attributions for failure and other verbalizations during exposure to noncontingency. Predictions are based primarily on three hypotheses derived from the model: 1) high generalized expectancy subjects are less likely to expect responses and reinforcements to be independent in new and different situations following an experience with noncontingency than are low generalized expectancy subjects; and 3) exposure to noncontingency can be psychologically threatening under certain conditions and can lead subjects to attach greater value to successful performance in the future.